Night and Day
by LoudAutomata16
Summary: To take his mind off a recent break-up, Lincoln decides to assist Lucy with her haunted house. But that comes with problems and complications, including forbidden feelings developing between the two...
1. Chapter 1

**I got the idea to do this story back in August, but never really got to it. But hey, now that it's October... I feel it's appropriate.**

* * *

 _What time is it?_

The thought occurred to a blood-eyed Lincoln as he rubbed his tired eyelids. The young man was feeling sleepy, but refused to let himself return to his bedroom. There was a magnetic pull in staying locked in the bathroom, as his mind was assaulted by a barrage of thoughts.

One specific thought.

Another break-up.

How many had he racked up by now? He guessed the third. Their names weren't even clear to him, as all he could recall from them were a swirl of feminine faces. Three girls he had dated over four years, ever since fifth grade, and all of his relationships ended the same. Heart-crushing breakups.

He refused to cry, though. He had cried the first time, back when he was eleven, but he promised himself to never again allow himself to shed tears like that. Now he was fifteen; he needed to prove this point to himself.

But damn, if crying wasn't tempting right now…

What was he thinking about again?

"Oh yeah," he croaked, massaging his throat slightly before continuing, "Was going to check the time."

He reached into his pocket and grabbed his smartphone, pressing the home button before placing it in front of his face. Blinding light emerged, attacking his pupils, and he gave a silent grunt of discomfort. It was three in the morning, from what he could read. Exactly three.

"Three AM and I'm stuck in the bathroom thinking about girls… that could be funny in a different context," Lincoln said with a small chuckle. He opened the camera to check his own reflection, running his fingers through his snowy hair. He wasn't bad looking, all things considered. He had more of a mature edge than he did before, as slight traces of sideburns began to appear on his face and the dark bags under his eyes, while still noticeably present, were less prominent than before.

He was handsome enough, he could say without sounding too vain about it. So why, oh why…

The doorknob to the bathroom shook, snapping Lincoln out of his thoughts and drawing his attention to the door. It stopped, followed by a short, melodious knock. "Is someone in there?" came a monotonous voice, that Lincoln recognized as his younger sister, Lucy.

He grinned slightly. _Of course Lucy would knock the door like that…_

"It's just me," he called back, in a bit of a quiet tone, "I'm coming out right now."

The young man grabbed his pants and ruffled them, pretending to put them back on. He stood and lifted the toilet seat, only to slam it back down and flush. It was a waste of water, but he'd rather that than Lucy asking why else he was holed up in the restroom…

He opened the door, and saw Lucy standing by, waiting patiently. She had both of her hands behind her back, while she gave Lincoln a wide and downright unnerving grin, especially coming from the normally deadpan girl. Lincoln raised an eyebrow, causing Lucy to deflate slightly.

"Sigh. You caught me," said the twelve year old Goth, as she revealed what was behind her back. Lincoln wasn't surprised to see it was a Princess Pony novel. However, he was surprised to see it was the eighth novel in the 'Companionship is Magecraft' spin-off series. By Lucy's own admissions, this one was the most saccharine of an already surgary series.

"I thought you saved that for special occasions," Lincoln said, pointing at the brightly colored novel. Lucy gave a brief nod, before hugging the book to her chest.

"Halloween is approaching," she said, "My favorite night of the year, where all the ghosts and ghouls and dark dreads of our race are celebrated in an ecstasy of darkness. I needed to purge myself of all my softer feelings," she patted the pink book, "so I can truly dedicate myself to that holiday."

"Oh, that's right. Halloween is coming up," Lincoln said softly.

"D-did you forget?" Lucy asked, her tone a combination of bafflement and… was that hurt he detected? "We were supposed to… work together this year. On designs for the haunted house."

 _Oh, that's why she's hurt,_ Lincoln thought, before giving his head a quick shake and smacking his cheeks, _Come on, Lincoln, big brother mode. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Think about someone else._

"Don't worry, Lucy, I didn't forget," he said, giving her a weak smile, "Just a little sleep-deprived. I'm already coming up with ideas, actually,"

"Yay. I'm so happy to have you on board, Lincoln," she said. Lucy's face remained as expressionless as ever, but that just made Lincoln chuckle.

"Yeah, I can tell."

"I truly mean it, brother," Lucy said, "Though our family will all be assisting me, and I'm truly grateful for their dedication and effort… I'm glad that, this year, we can work together."

"I… I am, too. Let's, uh, let's knock the neighborhood's socks off," Lincoln weakly swung his hand in an encouraging manner. The sides of Lucy's lips twitched in the direction of a smile, so Lincoln knew he had done his part. The tired boy turned away from his raven haired sister towards his bedroom, ready to call it a night, when he heard a faint "Wait!" coming from her.

He glanced over his shoulder at the Goth, and the look on her face was more serious than before. "I forgot to ask… how are you doing? With your… recent misfortune?"

"It's just a break-up. I'm… I'm doing fine. I know how to deal with these. After all, I have had a few of them," he said with a bark of laughter. Lucy wasn't convinced, though. Her face remained unchanged, and she took a step towards her brother.

"Lincoln, it's alright to embrace your sadness. If you need to, I'm always here to listen to you…"

"I'm fine, Lucy. Really. You don't have to worry about me," Lincoln said, touched by his sister's concern, but he really didn't want to talk about it…

"I can compose a poem for you. Express your dark feelings in a way that no other expression can…"

"Lucy, just drop it…"

"Believe me, Lincoln, there is a girl out there for you…"

"Well, that's a relief!" Lincoln suddenly snapped, "There's a girl out there for me? Well that's great. Where is she? Maybe she's in other country, and I'll go on a wild romcom journey to find her. Or maybe one of my past girlfriends comes back for a round two, and we live happily ever after this time. Or maybe, and this would be a real shocking message for me, but maybe she was under my nose the whole time, and I just couldn't see it for whatever fucking reason," Lincoln didn't even care that he was dropping f-bombs at this point, "But right now, nothing has worked for me. No one has. So can you just drop it?"

Silence hung over them when he finished his little rant, and there was no sound other than the snoring of a few of their louder sisters. The dark haired girl opened her mouth to respond, but instead hung her head. "I-I'm sorry," she said, making Lincoln immediately feel guilty.

"Lucy, I…" he started, but Lucy had already swung around into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Lincoln heard the sharp click of the lock, forcing him to swallow heavily.

"Great. Just great, Lincoln…"

* * *

The next day rolled around, just like the white haired boy did in his bed. He awoke feeling groggy and tired, not having even close to enough sleep. His eyes felt as tired as they did the night before as he sat up in his bed, hunching over. He opened his mouth to yawn, and was surprised by the roar he accidentally let out. "Wow," he said in a worn out tone, "I really didn't do myself any favors last night."

His brain pinged him with a sense of guilt, but Lincoln had a hard time placing it. He closed his eyes (a little smile of relief enveloping his face as he did) and ran through his recent memories when a beautiful pale face popped into his mind…

Lucy.

He stretched out his arms, listening to his elbows cracking and popping, before glancing over Bun Bun. The little rabbit toy was always on his side, but right now it was glaring at him with disapproval in its dark eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. I'll apologize to her and make things right. Let me just shower and brush first," he said to the small stuffed animal. The patronizing stare remained, which made Lincoln scoff. "You know, I hate to say it, but if you don't stop making me feel bad… next time Lynn and Luan start mocking me for having you, I will give you to Lily."

The judgmental look in its eyes only intensified.

Lincoln sighed. "Alright, you know I wouldn't give you away. Just give me a second, okay?"

The young man exited his room and made his way through the hall. He could hear the majority of his siblings (at least, the ones that still lived there) were downstairs, chattering and eating. He could distinctly hear Lola cry out "LANA! LYNN! STOP!" as the two tomboys laughed.

"Just another day in the Loud House," Lincoln said to himself, a light chuckle emerging from him. He quickly brushed his teeth, before hopping into the shower and allowing a light rain of warm water to fall on him. He closed his eyes as the stream ran down his body, letting out a little sigh of relief, hanging his head back into the shower…

Which, of course, was the best time for someone to start banging on the door.

Another sigh, but it was the opposite of relief.

Lincoln closed the shower and quickly grabbed his Ace Savvy merchandise towel, wrapping it around his lower body. He checked the mirror, glancing over his face, unblemished by the curses of puberty. "Looking good," he said to himself, trying to cheer himself up slightly.

It didn't work.

Right before he left the bathroom, his eye wandered to the toilet, and he noticed something colorful standing next to the porcelain throne. He peered at it, and saw that it was Lucy's rosy colored novel (though, by its size, it was more of a doorstop that doubled as a weapon). Seemed like Lucy had forgotten it.

Lincoln swallowed. He wanted to give it back to her, but then his sisters would see him carrying it, and considering how well it went every other time… he really didn't need it…

The person on the other side knocked again, so Lincoln just surrendered to it. He scooped up the book and opened the door to the bathroom to reveal Luna, bouncing slightly in place.

"What took you so long, bro? Can't you read your girly books somewhere else?" she ridiculed, before rushing in and closing the door behind her.

Lincoln's eyes widened. "She must've really had to go if that's the most mocking thing she could manage. Course, that was just a sneak peek of what's to come…"

He made his way down the stairs after he changed into his usual orange polo and jeans. He then walked into the kitchen, greeting everyone with a sweeping "Good morning."

All the girls present stopped their chatter and looked over to their brother. Lincoln noticed them all staring at the Princess Pony book in his hand, but to his surprise, no one said anything about it. He received a "Good Morning, Lincoln," from a few of his sisters, but none of them mocked the book.

"Hey, Lincoln," Lynn said, "How, uh, how are you holding up, champ?"

 _Champ?_

"Are you feeling fine, Linky?" Lola asked, genuine concern in her tone.

"Anything you need, just come to me," Lana offered, giving him a light smile, and Lincoln saw what was going on.

"Everyone, everyone, I'm fine," he said, trying to give a confident beam, but it looked more like a smile in pain.

"You're not convincing anyone, bro," Lynn said, shaking her head, "We know you're still reeling."

"It's… it's fi…" Lincoln sighed. He couldn't bring himself to lie. "It hurts, okay? I'll admit it. I just… need some time…"

"It's fine. We'll hold off on making fun of you until then," Luan said, pointing at the book, "But when we do…"

"Yeah, I got it," Lincoln said with an unamused look on his face. He glanced around the kitchen, noticing a certain ravenette was missing. "Hey, um… where's Lucy?"

"She's still upstairs. Said she wasn't hungry, and I saw her scribbling in her notebooks," Lynn said with a shrug, "It was either poetry or ideas for the haunted house."

"Oh yeah. It's in a few days, right?"

"Uh... more like a few weeks. Me, I'm just waiting on Leni to mail us the costumes she promised to sew…" Lana said.

"I requested a Dr. Frankenstein costume from her, but when she sent pictures for reference, they were all of Albert Einstein," Lisa deadpanned.

After that, all the sisters began to voice which costumes they'd be wearing, but Lincoln turned and left to go get Lucy. He stumbled a bit up the stairs and towards her room, only stopping to take a gaze towards Lori's and Leni's room. Or rather, their former room. The two of them were off at college, living together off-campus. Their room was empty now, no one really wanting to move in. For the most part, their room was used for future Sister Fight Protocols or when one/both of them dropped in for a visit. Lincoln eyed their room and realized; Damn, he missed them both…

"Can I go two steps today without feeling bad about something?"

He approached Lucy's door and knocked gently, waiting for an answer. When he got none, he pressed his ear to the door, and heard the sound of a pen scrawling over a piece of paper. He nodded to himself. She was decent, there was no way she was, uh, making use of her alone time.

Like that one time he walked in on her, one hand on her budding right breast while another was hidden under the sheets…

 _Okay, time to open the door._

He peered into Lynn and Lucy's room, and saw the pale girl sitting on her knees, surrounded by notebooks and blueprints that littered her dark bed. She glanced from one to the other, a pen in one hand, occasionally making hurried notes on one of the pages. "What is it?" she asked, not glancing up from her work.

"Um… you forgot this in the bathroom," Lincoln said, extending his arm towards her, her Princess Pony novel in hand. Lucy's gaze rose to see what he was referring to, when she gave a audible "GASP!" and ripped the book from his hands.

"D-did anyone…" she said, her voice completely overtaken with nervousness.

"No, they all thought it was mine," Lincoln said in a soft, relaxing tone, trying to calm his younger sister. He knew that, when it came to teasing, Lucy handled it the worst, but that simply was because she had dealt with it a lot as a child, more than her sisters. The popular blonde and aggressive jock didn't attract as many taunts and bullies as the quiet, pale, thin girl. She was often called ugly for her build and complexion, something that deeply bothered Lincoln to hear. How was she ugly?

Yes, she was pale, but it wasn't the sickly white of a corpse. It was a smooth shade of ivory and snow. It contrasted her well-kept raven hair, and her body, while not the most fine-tuned, was hardly skinny. She may have been petite and thin, but it wasn't unhealthy. And judging from how her growth had been treating her so far… it wasn't hard to assume she would grow into a shapely woman…

"Thank you, Lincoln," she said, returning back to her usual tone and drawing her brother back to reality, "I hope they… didn't tease you too much."

"No, but… they promised they would later," he chuckled softly.

"I… I appreciate you putting yourself in that situation. For me. I know how dark and clouded your thoughts are, and the poison our sisters could slew," she pressed the heavy tome to her body, "Well… I'm less upset than before."

Lucy gently placed the book next to the wall, letting it stand upright. She then extended a hand to move some of the loose papers and books covering her bed to the side, giving Lincoln room to sit. He accepted, sitting close to her, and feeling some of her stray breaths escape. "So…"

"So," she repeated, turning away from him again. Lincoln sighed as he realized what he would have to say.

"I'm sorry about what I said. I… I shouldn't have snapped at you when you were trying to make me feel better."

Lucy didn't face him yet, but she did stop pretending like she was working.

"I get if you're still upset," he said, patting her gently on her leg, "I guess I'll leave you…"

"I meant it."

Lincoln stared at her curiously, raising an eyebrow. Lucy stared back, the bangs covering her eyes a little more sharp than when she was eight, and she cocked her head to the side, beaming faintly.

"I mean it, Lincoln. In this desolate and apathetic universe, all beings are bound to at least one other by a red string of fate, one other who can combat the loneliness of the world. I believe there is some out there for you. You just need to find her," she rasped.

Lincoln lightly smirked, before glancing at the ground. "You really think so?"

"Yes. Why… why wouldn't you?" Lucy's cheeks began to blush, "You're so kind and handsome and smart…"

And Lucy would know. Though she couldn't spend as much time in the vents as she used to, her body growing from that eight year old build, on the good days when she could squeeze through the vents, she would often occupy herself by staring down at her older brother, admiring his physique. Her cheeks would burn as Lincoln disrobed to read his comics, but that didn't stop her from admiring his every shape and curve. The little time he spent exercising did pay off, she noted, and the soft look of his ashy curls made him that much more unique to her. Truly, any woman that could have him would be lucky.

The thought caused Lucy a stab of jealousy. Envy towards the woman that would take her brother from her.

The women before had failed, but how long would it be until one of them succeeded in becoming his girlfriend? How long until Lincoln wasn't there for her anymore?

"Uh, Lucy?" It was Lincoln's turn to draw his sister back to reality.

"I hope you can find the right woman…" Lucy finally said, in a voice not much louder than a whisper.

Her words hung in the air, as Lincoln and Lucy stared at each other, their faces separated by inches. He could feel her cool breaths on his face, and she felt his warmer essence on hers, and both of their skins tingled. Lincoln swallowed heavily, his face reddening, before he finally shook his head as if he were waking up from a trance.

"No," he said, "Let's not make it what happened on Christmas…"

Lucy's eyes widened underneath her dark hair. "I didn't know you remembered that…" she said with a hint of shock in her tone.

"Yeah, I do," he said, turning his face away, "And it was just a… a fun little thing that we did, a-as siblings. As a brother and sister just having fun on Christmas. Nothing… more…"

"Sigh. I agree," Lucy said, though her tone was as unconvinced as his was. She could sense another uncomfortable silence heading their way, and quickly decided to take action, grabbing a small notebook to her left and showing it to Lincoln, "This is, uh, something I came up with for Lily. For the haunted house."

 _Right. We're working together on this little show,_ Lincoln thought before he said, "Cool. What is it?"

"I was thinking that, for Lily, we suspend her in the air with a rope, and have her fly towards the guests. In her morbid costume of course."

"Couldn't that be dangerous, though? For both Lily and the guests?"

Lucy rubbed her chin, visualizing the worst case scenario. A small smile bloomed on her face as she imagined the screams she could get, but that faded as she remembered the most important rule she promised her parents;

Not to make her holiday as dangerous as Luan's holiday.

"Sigh. I'll come up with something better. But still macabre enough for our ears to ring with fright," Lucy relented, before giving her brother a brief nod, "Thank you, Lincoln."

"No problem, Lucy. We are going to be partners on this, so I guess this'll be my job," he said with a light chuckle, "Anyways, when do you need me back? I promised Clyde we could meet up at the comic store."

"Nerd," Lucy deadpanned, a wide and mocking grin growing on her face.

"I think the real nerds are people who read Princess Pony," he shot back, a teasing smirk on his face.

"Then yeah, you're still the nerd," a third voice said. Lincoln and Lucy's eyes shot back to the doorway, where Lynn Jr. had just strolled in. She threw herself on the bed, lifting her neck to look at her two younger siblings, "By the way, you two look like you're going to make out."

The sporty girl watched Lincoln and Lucy's mouths drop to the ground, and she shrugged. "I'm just saying…"

* * *

A few hours later, Lincoln and his best friend Clyde McBride were in the comic book store, scrolling through the aisles. So many genres and so many characters and worlds to explore… too bad their hearts were stolen by one particular series.

Why am I acting like you don't know which one? It's Ace Savvy. It's always Ace Savvy.

"I'm glad that you came with me, Lincoln," Clyde said as they walked past a Muscle Fish cardboard cut-out, "How are you, uh, doing with your recent break-up?"

"I won't lie, it does still hurt a little," Lincoln said, rubbing the back of his neck in shame, "I thought we had something special, and there was no chance she was going to move to the city like _someone…_ It's stings, Clyde. It does," he gave a brief smile, however, "Of course, my sisters have been helping me move past it. Especially Lucy. We're working on a haunted house together…"

"Oh. You mean like back when we were eleven?" Clyde asked, "I remember a lot of corn…"

"This year we're doing a house, not a corn maze," Lincoln said with a shrug, "Lucy watched a reboot of some old timey haunted house movie… the reboot where they cast only women with dyed hair. Anyways, she was so offended she decided to make her own. 'I'll show those sacrilegious money-grubbers what true terror is,'" he said in his best Lucy impression, making Clyde crack a smile.

"So sounds like you're feeling a bit better."

"I guess I am. Still…" he exhaled heavily through his nose, looking off wistfully, "I just wish it ended better."

His bespectacled friend gave him a light slap on the back, and a friendly grin. "Well, allow me to finish what Lucy started. We'll have such a great time, you won't even remember what a break-up is."

"That's the plan," Lincoln chuckled as he glanced to the side. When he did, however, his already weak smile quickly slid off his face.

Over by the pretentious graphic novel section was a familiar classmate of theirs, a boy by the name of Chandler. And towering over him, glowering aggressively at him… two unfortunately familiar bullies; Hank and Hawk.

Lincoln scowled. Hank and Hawk, on the prowl close to Halloween… not a good omen, as Lucy would say.

He stopped in his tracks, encouraging Clyde to do the same. As soon as Clyde caught sight of the two hunkering figures, he knew to stop and crouch down slightly, to get a good view. Neither of them could hear, but it was clear that the two were threatening Chandler. Lincoln watched as Hawk's hand slipped into his pocket, and his eyes widened as he saw the outline of a knife.

There were many people in the world that should not have weapons on their persons. Hank and Hawk were up there.

There was a back and forth between the two giants and the redheaded teen, which ultimately ended with Chandler hanging his head and giving a reluctant nod. The two grinned and slapped each other high fives, with a booming "Awesome, bro!" "I know, bro!" before leaving Chandler and the store.

Chandler grimaced as he ripped a large comic (probably an omnibus edition). "All I wanted was the reprint of _Wanderers,_ " he muttered under his breath as he passed by Lincoln and Clyde, "Why did they have to put it here, with other horror comics? Crossovers belong in the crossover section…"

Lincoln glanced back at Clyde. "Hey, Clyde… do you think that… Hank and Hawk might bother us this year?"

All his friend could do was shrug. "I hope not, but… there's no telling with those two."

Lincoln grimmed. "I just don't want a repeat of what happened back then," he said, remembering how those two almost wrecked Lucy's Halloween. He remembered how devastated she had been, slouching over with her frown more pronounced than usual. It broke his heart to see her like that, and even though everything worked out in the end, Lincoln cared for his spooky sister too much to let her feel that way again.

Plus, he remembered how, at the end of the night, Lucy turned to him, in high spirits about her success. And Lincoln saw her cute… no, beautiful smile across her fair, snowy face. His heart skipped a beat when he saw it, but he'll never forget how wonderful she looked…

 _I'll watch out for those two,_ Lincoln thought, _For Lucy's sake._


	2. Chapter 2

**That Engineer: Not a two-shot. I'm thinking more like three to five chapters.**

 **SKYx10 and The PhantomHokage: Thank you both very much for the kind words :)**

* * *

Concerns about Hank and Hawk's hooliganism were still on Lincoln's mind the next day, mixed in with unpleasant thoughts about his break-up. So Lincoln was thankful that he had the Halloween house planning to do; it was a welcome distraction from all that.

Plus, he got to spend time with Lucy. More intimate time than usual…

Lincoln stopped dead in his tracks before entering Lynn and Lucy's room. He scowled to himself, quietly muttering "Dang it." He knew what his brain was up to, and he wasn't going to fall for it.

"Listen… if you don't mind, can I just spend some quality time with my little sister without you trying to make things weird? I'd be oh-so grateful if that were the case," he grumbled, before noticing Lily standing next to him, staring at him with wide eyes.

"Oh, uh, hey Lily. Just going to plan out the haunted house with Lucy," he weakly grinned at her.

"Weird," was all the youngest Loud sibling said before she went back to her room.

"Yeah, I guess I am," Lincoln sighed before grabbing the doorknob and opening the door.

"Hey Luce," he automatically greeted his gothic sister with a small wave. She was sitting on her bed, lying on her side as she read over her plans through her raven colored bangs. Her black dress was also slightly hiked up to her knees, revealing her pale and slender legs.

And just as the day before, her bed was scattered with plans for every spook and scare she could imagine (and certainly she could imagine them well), but now the mess of papers and blueprints had spread… in her coffin, on Lynn's pile of sweaty clothes, even tied and taped to some of her bats. As Lucy raised her hand to return her greeting, Lincoln raised an eyebrow, which did not go unobserved by the young girl.

"Sigh. I know; it's more messy than the House of Usher," she acknowledged in her monotone, "But it's just because I have so many ideas for what this could look like."

Lincoln glanced down at a small scrap next to his foot, and bent over to pick it up. "Who to use to record screams; Lola or Lily?" he read off it.

"I decided against both of them. I'll have Leni phone in a few recordings."

"I see," he said, before twirling his finger around the room, "I assume the rest of these aren't memos about voice recording."

"Very astute observation, Lincoln," Lucy muttered sarcastically, "The reason I have all of this is also the reason you're here to help me…"

She stood up from her bed, her long, inky dress spilling over her legs as she approached her brother, a small notebook with a felt cover in her hands, pressed comfortably to her bosom. As she got close enough, she swallowed and said "Lincoln, what I'm going to share with you is one of the most important things I've ever worked on. I've been writing in this ever since I was seven," she slowly extended her arms, offering the book to him.

Lincoln took it from her, their hands lightly brushing against each other. He flipped to a random page towards the middle and began reading from a lengthy passage...

"… Edwin spun towards Lucilla, his red sanguine eyes hungry and full of thirst. 'Now, my goth queen of the night,' he said in his silky Romanian accent, 'Let us to my chambers to consummate our marriag-"

Lucy snatched the book out of Lincoln's hand, her face burning with the same color as Edwin's 'sanguine eyes.' "W-Wrong book," she stuttered before tossing it across the room and digging through a small pile of booklets to find the right one. Lincoln had to bite down on his lip to keep from laughing.

"Is it just me, or did Edwin's wife have a really familiar name?" he teased.

"Shut up," Lucy stood up again, with a similar-looking book, "This should be the right one."

"I hope not," he jabbed, Lucy making an unamused expression as she presented the book to him. He opened the book again, and began leafing through the pages, noticing a lot of lists, diagrams, drawings, measurements and paragraphs. It became clear to him what this was. "So this is your Halloween book, right? Where you store all your ideas?"

"Sigh," she nodded, "I have so many themes and concepts to choose from… it can get really overwhelming. Last year I had to ask Luan for help choosing…"

"That explains the clown…"

"… but this time, I wanted to choose from my original concepts. The first ideas I recorded in this tome. And I'd like your help with that, as well as using some of your other skills."

"Like?"

"You draw comics. I was hoping you could help with some art and blueprints, as well as accurate measurements."

Lincoln rubbed his chin, thinking about it, then looked back at some of Lucy's concept art. Yikes. Maybe it was the fact that her pen seemed to be splattering blotches of ink all over the pages (though, knowing her, it might've been deliberate). Still, he needed to be kind…

"Well… I think you do some fine art yourself. Remember that horror comic you drew me way back when? I, uh, still look through it from time to time."

The pallid girl seemed to perk up when she heard this. "Do you… really still read that one?"

Lincoln nodded. He wasn't… lying exactly. He did, however, leave out the part about how he usually read it to chuckle at some of the grimdark parts…

"I'm glad," she said, "I haven't thought about it until now, but I remember how happy I was at the time... because I could give something back to you."

That made Lincoln's heart glow. Sure, it wasn't the best, from an artist and writer standpoint, but it was a project of love. And that was all that mattered to Lincoln. That Lucy loved him enough to do it… He still wished he could've gone to the damn convention though…

"Okay, these should be pretty good," Lincoln said as he scrolled back to the first page, where he found a small list of Lucy's ideas, presumably written years ago.

"Number one; a tunnel of webs and spiders," Lincoln read, before glancing up at Lucy, "I hope you mean fake spiders."

There was a lengthy, silent pause before Lucy answered "Sure."

"The best part is… now that Leni isn't here, we don't have to worry about her jumping out of her skin," Lucy observed, before putting on a little smirk. That would've been the sight…

"Yeah, but remember… Lily?"

Two months beforehand, Lily had been playing in the park when an exceptionally large tarantula had crawled up her back without her noticing. The young girl had only been made aware of it by her father's feminine screaming and, despite Lisa's reassurances that it could've had hurt her, Lily had been stuck with a fear of tarantulas and, of course, spiders. "I believe she associated the startle you gave her with the idea of arachnids," Lisa later explained to Lynn Sr.

"Dang it," Lucy pointed at another idea below it, "How about this one; a house haunted by the family that went insane there."

"That sounds pretty cool, honestly," Lincoln said, getting excited for the idea, "What's the story behind the crazies?"

"One girl went insane due to lack of sleep, because her roommate was snoring too loud. Another was driven mad by paranoia over April Fool's Day pranks. There should also be a ghost of a young girl who died after her eldest sister forced her to perform an impossible task. And then there's…"

"Uh… Luce? I like the idea but… do you think you maybe put a _little_ too much of yourself in it?" Lincoln asked uncomfortably.

Lucy cocked her head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Never mind. I think we should just drop it," Lincoln sighed, his eyes returning to the crisp pages and barreling through, "How about this one? A witch's coven. That sounds…"

He stopped when he heard Lucy scoff. "A witch's coven? This isn't the 50s."

"Well, you came up with this…"

"When I was seven or eight… I may have been a genius in delivering scares even then, but even the greatest artists have bad ideas."

At that point, Lucy simply slumped to the ground, sliding down the wall. Her dress rode up her a little, giving Lincoln a nice flash of whitish leg before her bottom hit the floor. "Sigh. It's really hard coming up with ideas."

"Yeah, it can be," Lincoln despondently agreed. With a flick of his wrist, the book of ideas went flying onto her bed, where it bounced off the mattress and onto the ground. "Nice one," Lucy mocked.

Lincoln scowled, but ignored it, putting it off as her frustrations. He scratched his hair as he started brainstorming some new ideas for an attraction. _Think, Lincoln… think. What're people really scared of nowadays?_

…

 _What're people really scared of nowadays that won't get us shut down for hate crimes?_

He shut his eyes, and allowed his mind to show him images in the blackness of his eyelids. Scenes of bats, coffins, knifes, werewolves, insane messages on the wall… but suddenly, there was a jolt of energy on his hemispheres…

"Lucy, I think I have it," he said, a bright smile growing on his lips, "What if… we didn't have a specific theme… and instead we took a whole ton of your crazy Halloween ideas and combined them together?"

Lincoln couldn't see it, but Lucy raised an eyebrow behind her dark bangs. Still, she listened to him go on.

"And we take all of that spooky stuff, and put it in something like… I don't know, a place where all this haunted stuff happens, and then we…"

"Lincoln… you're just describing a haunted house…"

A beat passed, and Lincoln felt himself deflate. "O-Oh… right…"

Lucy couldn't help but smile at his disappointed reaction, raising a hand to cover her Cheshire cat grin. Lincoln rolled his head back and sighed loudly, frustrated with himself. He really thought he was onto something innovative…

"It's not the worst idea," Lucy suddenly said, her familiar neutral frown returning to her face, "Perhaps I can save my more creative ideas for upcoming Halloweens, when I have more experience… An average haunted house might be a good testing ground for what I can get away with."

"Right," Lincoln said, a little relieved she was on board with his idea, "And it doesn't have to be 'average' exactly. You can still throw in some of your more colorf… interesting concepts in there. I'm sure you have some wild ideas for that."

"Indeed I do," she shrugged, "I guess… it doesn't matter that others have done it. I can just… outperform them…"

"I know you can, Luce. No one in Royal Woods… hell, no one on the whole continent cares about Halloween as much as you do," Lincoln said, smirking in his brotherly way.

A nice shade of violet crept onto her face as he said that. "Thank you, Lincoln," she muttered softly, gazing at him as if under a spell. Lincoln looked back at her, just taking a moment to admire her passion for her dark interests, her unyielding loyalty to give everyone the best Halloween she could… her fierce yet sensitive beauty…

Lincoln shook his head. "So, uh… do you want to get to work?"

Her bangs bounced as she nodded. "Just one last question… are you willing to dress up as anything I tell you to? No matter how ridiculous you think it looks…"

That made Lincoln worry, and a hesitant "Uh… maybe if I got to see what you had in mind first…"

"I'd like to keep it a surprise," Lucy said. Her tone suggested she was trying to seem innocent, but once again, her lips curled into a conniving smirk…

* * *

The rest of October seemed to rush by quickly, as Lincoln, Lucy and the rest of their siblings got to work on their project. The first obstacle, of course, was convincing their parents to let them use their home for the haunted house. Of course, they refused.

"Sorry, honey," Rita said, "But it would be a huge mess to clean up, plus we'd be letting in a bunch of strangers. If one of them is sick, well, you know how fast diseases spread in here…"

As she was talking, Lynn Sr. rubbed his chin in thought, before seeming to get an idea. "Luan, do you remember that April Fool's where you bought an entire motel to prank the family?"

"Do I?" she said excitedly, before the nasty glares of her sisters calmed her down, "I mean… yes, I do."

"Well… you could do the same for Lucy, can't you?"

"Hmm… I'd have to make a few calls and pull a few favors. After all, the cost of getting a building isn't _on the house._ Ha ha. Geddit?"

Eleven groans went into the air, and Lola tapped on Lucy's shoulder. "Make her job something miserable."

But, within a week, Luan was able to secure a nice location for rent, and only a few blocks away to boot. Luna was able to drive all her younger siblings there in Vanzilla, where they feasted their eyes on… the dirtiest entrance to a house they had ever seen.

"What? It was close and cheap," Luan shrugged, as Lucy went to inspect the stairway. She ran one of her blackly painted fingers over the hand rail, and inspected it. Yep, it was dusty as all hell.

"I love it," she muttered monotonously, "Let's keep it exactly like this. We can work around it all…"

"Uh, Lucy. We have to clean up the dust. What if someone has asthma?" Lincoln pointed out.

"Sigh. You're right. We'll have to clean this up. But… not too much. This is really, really good for designs and visuals," she said the last part almost to herself.

Nevertheless, under Lola's guidance, the Louds set to cleaning up the place (not that she cleaned up, of course. She was perfectly happy to bark out orders to everyone, especially Lana. She wanted to savor the moments where the muddy tomboy was actually cleaning). The stair's railings were dusted, some of the mud and mold on the floors and in the bathrooms was cleaned up, and a little expedition by Luna into the basement yielded cracked plates and mugs.

"This glassware appears antique," Lisa noted as she raised it above her head, looking at it underneath the lighting of the room, "I would say this is… circa World War One. Also known as the Great War, as no one at the time imagined there would be a second, which also explains why it was called the War to End all Wars…"

"Alright, Lis, we get it," Lynn interjected, "It's valuable and shit."

"Actually, the material to make these cups is pretty worthless," Lisa observed, smirking at her interrupter and pushing her glasses up her nose, "While they may not yield a great price… perhaps our occult minded sister could use this for her presentation?"

"Hmm… I think I have an idea for them," was all Lucy would say about the matter…

Over the next few days, Luna would take anyone who was both free and willing to spiff the place up (but not _too_ much. Just enough to avoid problems). And thanks in no small part to Lisa's special vacuums and smart mops, they were able to clean up the building in less than a week.

"And now comes the fun part," Lucy said, rubbing her hands together with shivering anticipation, "Bringing my ideas to life, and scaring said life out of anyone who dares enter…"

That was the most emotion they saw out of her for the rest of the year.

* * *

Days turned to weeks as work on their project continued. Finally, just three days before Halloween, it was done. Everyone had worked hard and, in Lincoln's humble opinion, it turned out pretty well.

He placed his hands in his pockets as he stood outside the building, swaying back and forth on his feet as he gazed on the fruits of their labor. It had the classic, downright crap clichés, on the outside; spider webs, gravestones ( _Respawn is lagging_ , it read) and of course, the hanging spooky skeletons that would give anyone above the age of two the giggles.

Lincoln grinned. That was part of their plan. Inside were the real horrors, and it would be unexpected.

"Hey Lincoln," Lucy said behind him, startling the young man.

"Lucy, please, my hair is going white because of you," he lightly joked, but still made clear he was annoyed. The goth shrugged as she walked to his side, and stared at the house with him.

"It came out better than I expected," she said softly.

Lincoln nodded. "A lot of that is thanks to your planning," he said, "And you getting everyone excited for the holidays."

Lucy blushed, preening a strand of hair away from her face. "Don't sell yourself short, Lincoln… I would never have come up with this if it weren't for you."

"Yeah… you would've come up with something a lot more creative than a simple haunted house," he chuckled, "Maybe a cannibal butcher shop or something."

"Gasp! I should write that down."

"Get a room, you two," another soft voice came from behind them, and the two jumped out of their skins. Lincoln turned and saw a dark haired girl his age, with Lucy's fashion sense of a skull pendant, fishnet on her arms and a dark shade of purple eyeliner painted on her lids. He squinted for a moment; she seemed familiar…

"Wait… Haiku?" he asked, and the ravenette gave a flicker of a smirk.

"You remember who I am… good. Despite the years that have passed, I am graced with the fortunate knowledge that I have remained in your conscious," the older Haiku took a pseudo-bow.

 _Of course. Only Haiku could ever get the drop on Lucy,_ Lincoln thought with a roll of his eyes, "So, what are you doing here? Come to admire the haunted house?"

"Admire… that depends," Haiku said curtly, and Lucy sighed.

"I asked Haiku to be a… judge… of our horror show. She's without a doubt the most qualified person to rate our scares," she flashed the older girl a small smile, which Haiku reciprocated.

"Now then," Haiku said, returning to her glowering normal self, "I hope to be impressed, Lucy. You always showed the most promise out of our morbid band."

And with that, she walked towards the building, her long, eloquent dress covering her feet, making it seem as if she was floating gracefully through the air rather than stepping on the ground. Of course, as she walked on, Lincoln had a chance to notice that... since he last saw her at eleven years of age, Haiku had grown into a downright beautiful woman, her body curvy and shapely and...

 _That breakup really did wonders to me. Now women are all that's on my mind..._

Still, he managed to fix up a decent haunted house. He looked over to Lucy and gave her a brotherly smile. He was just glad he was able to set aside his personal problems and help put a smile... a less dour frown on her face.

Lucy's head titled towards him, and he realized he had been staring. "Oh, uh... so, what do you think she'll say?" he clumsily spilled, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Sigh. I have no idea. I find it to be some of my greatest work, despite the premise, but... it all depends on what she thinks," a small bead of sweat rolled down Lucy's forehead, and the young girl swallowed nervously. Lincoln was well-aware of how much respect Haiku commanded in Lucy, and there was no doubt the older goth's opinion would make or break Lucy's entire Halloween.

"I'm sure she'll like it, Luce. And, uh, even if she doesn't... wouldn't you say it's been fun working on it together?" he clapped his hand on her shoulder, "You know, with all our sisters... with me."

She titled slightly, giving him a side view of her satisfied smirk. "It was better than reading Edwin X Anon fics online."

Lincoln chuckled at that, and moved his hand upwards to caress Lucy's cheek. His fingers gently scraped her face, and Lucy's eyes widened behind her thick hair. "Lincoln... what are you..."

"Hey, I'm just... giving you a hug..." he said awkwardly.

"Weird way to give a hug," Lucy noted, and Lincoln barked a hoarse laugh.

"Yeah, but... I don't like hugging in public. And before you say whatever you were going to say... that was when I was eleven. Things change, ya know?"

Lucy exhaled loudly, steamy vapors exiting her mouth. "It's time like this, Lincoln, that make me thing about..."

Whatever Lucy was thinking about would remain a mystery, for at that moment, Haiku burst out of the front door of their attraction, causing Lincoln and Lucy to step away from each other. Her exposed eye was wide, telling a story of shock and fear, and she quickly made her way to the siblings. "That was quite the experience, Lucy," Haiku told Lucy in her ghastly tone, "You've outdone yourself."

"Does that mean..."

"You brought me here to judge. And thus my judgement is this... if I were to compare it to a season of Vampires of Melancholia..."

Lucy leaned in eagerly.

"It would be a Season 3."

There was a moment of silence, and Lincoln wished he had literally any idea of what that meant. He looked to Lucy for her reaction, and he noticed her face was... in that peculiar place. The place where she was incredibly happy but made sure to not show it. It's something Haiku would've not recognized, but anyone who lived with Lucy came to know that expression.

"Sigh. I'm so happy," Lucy said, and though she only gave a curt nod, the goth girl felt like jumping to the sky...


	3. Chapter 3

**A few people have brought up the question of Lincoln's ex. Personally, I don't think it's that important, but seeing how Jeff and James (two people I respect) have brought it up, I gave her a name. It's someone you know~**

 **(Keep in mind, it took all my willpower not to make it Thicc QT)**

* * *

The more horror props and decorations Lincoln noticed in his and other neighborhoods as he walked around signaled one thing to him; Halloween was only one day away. He smiled slightly to himself; the month seemed to fly by, for the most part. Best part is; he felt that he and his sisters had really built something great this month. Something to look back on with satisfaction and pride…

The young man made his way to the front door, opening it with a loud "Hey, I'm home," to whoever was around. Luan and Lola were on the couch, fighting over the remote, as he expected. Of course, Lola was kind enough to remove her fist from Luan's mouth so the comedienne could greet him. "Hey Lincoln. You look pretty chipper right now."

"Hmm… I guess I am feeling a lot more invigorated in general. I thought autumn was supposed to do the opposite," he said with a shrug.

"Well, I hope you know what that means," Luan said with a sly smirk, and when Lincoln gave her a look of confusion, she rubbed her hands (as much as she could with Lola's body slammed on her forearm) and snickered, "I've been holding off on this for a long time… Hey Linc, I'd recommend you take some salt after you finish reading."

"Why?"

"JUST IN CASE YOUR PONY BOOK IS TOO SURGARY!" Luan laughed maniacally, falling over herself and onto the floor, clutching her stomach with laughter. Back on the couch, Lola giggled mockingly, and Lincoln gave them both a deadpan scowl.

"I'm going upstairs now," he said before turning.

"No wait, haha, Linc please… I had ten more of these…" Luan said, extending a hand after her younger brother, "But I can't say them all because my throat's getting _hoarse…_ "

"One day, she's gonna need me to bail her out of something… I'll get revenge then," he muttered to himself through grit teeth as his cackling sisters disappeared from his side view.

He ascended the steps, and found Lisa and Lily walking by, both carrying small beakers of… oh no…

"Lisa, please don't involve Lily in your poop studies," Lincoln scolded wearily.

"Don't worry, elder sibling. Most of this is her own, after all. The rest came from the colony of Chiropteran mammals (street name; bats) that Lucy keeps. Speaking of which… she has requested to talk to you."

Lincoln's eyes widened a little. What did she need from him now? They finished everything on the haunted house, right?

The young man exhaled heavily, watching his two youngest sisters walk towards the bathroom ( _Don't think about it, don't think about it,_ Lincoln repeated like a mantra) before finally making his way to Lynn and Lucy's room.

The goth was on her bed, reading from a book of poetry, while the jock was tossing a spiraling football up and down on her bed, catching it with a small smile on her face. When Lincoln entered the room, her grin widened and she arched her arm. "Hey Stinkoln, think fast," she cried as she threw the ball right into his gut, knocking the white haired teen on the ground.

"Dang it, Lynn," he said in annoyance, tossing the ball to the side and rubbing his center.

Lynn scooped up the pigskin and gave Lincoln a look of mild annoyance. "You're no fun. I'll just go find Lana."

"Please do," he scowled.

When Lynn left the room, Lincoln immediately looked to Lucy. "Damn, first Luan and Lola make fun of me, and now Lynn pelts me with a football. The hell did this hostility come from?"

Lucy glanced up from her book at her older brother, a subtle smirk emerging on her glossed lips. "Don't you think it's a good thing?"

"Not really."

"Sigh. Consider this; everyone had been sparing you and your feelings for a while because of your… misfortune with Mollie…"

"So what you're saying is… they're acting this way because they think I've finally gotten over it?" he guessed, and Lucy nodded. At first, he felt himself smile slightly. At the start of the month, getting over his horrible break-up with Mollie seemed about as possible as teaching Charles to write in kanji. But then he let his smirk fade. "I liked it better before."

Lucy bit her lip to avoid smiling in amusement, as Lincoln rose from the carpet. "Anyways, Lisa said you wanted to talk to me?"

"I did," she said, standing up as well and walking over to one of her smaller coffins in the corner. She opened the hatch, and a wave of paper spilled out onto the ground at her feet. She sighed before crouching down and shifting through them, her fingers turning and tearing through sheet after sheet before she finally smirked. "Found it," she whispered, too faintly for her brother to hear.

Lucy turned to face him, a ragged and yellowish piece of parchment in her hands. "I just wanted to say, Lincoln… thank you for everything you've done for me. Halloween is a very important time for me, so I…" she paused, glancing down at the words written on the scroll, "I can't thank you enough in words, so I composed a poem to show my eternal gratitude."

"Oh, n-no need, Luce," he said, waving his hands a little. She wasn't a bad poet, by any means. On the contrary, her skills had only improved as the years went on, her descriptive imagery and rhythmic lines becoming capable of bringing even the most hardened cynic to tears.

 _That being said,_ her most fond use of her skills was to describe some of the most horrific and nightmarish scenes ever imagined by a twelve year old girl. Lincoln knew it better than most…

"Ahem," she softly said, crinkling the paper as she brought it closer to her eyes;

"My brother Lincoln, stands as strong as stone.

"In the darkness of midnight, the rivers carry me.

"Filled with insecurity and fear, I am alone.

"I am tossed from side to side, wanting to flee.

"But he stands strong, giving me a place

"To stand and gaze into the blackness of space."

The dark haired girl gave a satisfied smile, and began rolling up the paper. Whatever mixed feelings Lincoln had about the poem itself (it wasn't bad in his opinion, but he knew she could do better) he set aside. She took time out of her schedule to write something for him. And that made him beam slightly.

He began softly clapping for her, and Lucy took a little bow, raising the sides of her dress and bowing her head, though Lincoln could still see her face was as neutral as ever. "Thanks, Luce," he said, "I'm just glad I could help out. And honestly… I think I should be thanking you. If it weren't for you dragging my ass around, I never would've gotten over my crappy love life," he chuckled slightly, intending it as a joke.

"You'll find her, Lincoln," Lucy murmured. His sarcastic undertone flew over her head, because she simply said, seriousness completely coating her tone, "I know she's out there for you, Lincoln. Maybe in the last place you'd expect."

Perhaps it was an unconscious decision, but Lucy immediately followed up her words by running her nimble fingers through her obsidian hair, slightly flipping it as if it were an enticing display.

"Yeah, I hope so," he simply said, stepping over to pat her gently on her head. The blood rushed to her cheeks as he grinned fondly at her. "But right now, all that matters is giving Royal Woods the greatest scare since its founding. Loud House style."

The girl nodded confidently. "Let's do this," she said dryly, though her feelings at that moment were anything but dry…

* * *

"Oh, I'm beyond excited for this All Hallow's Eve," Lisa exclaimed, her tightly clenched fists fidgeting from the thrill, "I'm hoping my candy supply will raise my sugar levels to beyond unhealthy degrees."

Lincoln chuckled as he walked with her down the stairs, where a few of their other siblings were waiting. This year, it had fallen on Luan to chaperone the younger kids, so Lincoln was relieved to find her with Lola, Lana and Lily. She could be irresponsible from time to time, but hey; people hired her to babysit for a reason…

"Hey Linc, hey Lis," Luan greeted with a wave.

"Hey you two," came Lana's rough greeting, but when Lincoln turned to the source of the voice, he saw Lola, standing prim and proper and clean as ever. He dug his finger into his ear, wondering if he misheard, and 'Lola' grinned. "It's me, Lana," she said, holding up a chipped fingernail, "See?"

"Oh, it's you. Um… so that means…" he turned towards the girl that looked like Lana, and she rolled her eyes, "Who do you think it is; Lynn?"

"Can I ask why you two are dressed as each other?" he asked, pointing between the two. Lana and Lola looked at each other, dressed in each other's clothes, and they both gave toothy grins of mischief.

"We figured a new plan of attack to get more candy," Lola began explaining, "All we have to do is dress up as each other, and so when one of us finds a house with some really good candy, we can go there twice. 'Oh, that wasn't me who took candy two minutes ago. That was my twin.'"

"Exactly," Lana nodded, "So the next time I find a house passing out those giant Crunch bars… I can have two…" she began drooling at the thought, her eyes glossing over with a dreamy look on her face, to which Lincoln rubbed his chin.

"But what if you find a house with really good stuff and you both want in?"

Lola opened her mouth to answer, but quickly shut it and glowered at her twin. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there…"

"Fair enough," Luan said, "But maybe you should've included Lisa in your plans. You could've been the _Three Musketeers_ of trick or treating. Ha ha. Geddit?"

Lola rolled her eyes, while Lana licked her lips. "I hope we get some Three Musketeer bars tonight…"

"Well, if you've been good all year, Santa will provide tonight," Lincoln muttered sarcastically, before looking over to his youngest sister, "So what are you going as Lily?"

"A Frankenstein teddy bear," the toddler exclaimed, waving her stubby costume arms around, beaming like the sun itself. Lincoln glanced down at Lisa, and the young scientist simply shrugged.

"It's Halloween. It needed to be scary."

Lincoln rolled his eyes. "Please tell me you didn't stuff in a bunch of laser beams or something like that."

Lisa scoffed. "As if the Frankenstein monster had laser beams. Next time I read Lily one of the science fiction classics before she sleeps, I'd recommend you'd join us."

 _Please don't read Lily horror stories before she goes to bed,_ Lincoln was about to reply before he remembered something more pressing. He turned back to Luan. "Hey Luan, are you sure you're going to be able to manage them by yourself?"

"You say that like we're handfuls," Lola complained, which still looked weird to Lincoln to see 'Lana' complaining in that high pitched tone.

"You are handfuls," he simply said, and none of the younger four could argue.

Luan chuckled a bit before saying "It's fine, Lincoln. I won't even be alone. I've asked Maggie to help me out with them…"

Lincoln squinted at her. "Who?"

"Har har," Luan replied, echoing the reaction of a few readers. She paused to pull out her phone, and checked the time, before clapping her hands, "Alright, time for us to head out. We'll trick or treat our way to Lucy's haunted house, so you might want to wait up a little."

"That's fine," Lincoln said, "And thanks, Luan. For everything."

"Softie," she muttered, and a light giggle went through the room, "But I'm glad to be of service. It's why I'm the most hired in the business."

Lincoln simply stood as Luan shepherded their younger sisters out of the house, waving at each of them as they walked out. The door closed behind them, and Lincoln was left alone. "I feel like there's one last thing I need to take care of…"

He slammed his fist into his palm as he remembered. "Oh yeah, Dad."

Lincoln walked over to his parent's room, knocking the door softly before pressing his ear against the wood. The quiet sounds of a man whimpering and shivering could be heard, and Lincoln groaned a little. "Dad, it's me."

"Come on."

Lincoln twisted the door knob and went inside, finding his dad wrapped in layers of blankets. "So you're still 'sick' right?" Lincoln asked.

"What can I say? It always comes down this ding dang time of season," he replied.

"Yeah. Always around this time. This day, specifically."

"Well… germs are a mystery of nature. Maybe one day I can have Lisa look into it…"

"Sure thing. Um… I just wanted to ask if you needed anything before I headed out. Mom, Luna, Lynn and Lucy are at the haunted house, and Luan took everyone else trick or treating. You sure you're going to be alright by yourself?"

"Sure am, champ," he said with an attempt at bravado, "I'll just be watching some movies to pass the time. Real scary stuff, you know? Friday the 13th, Saw, that movie with the aliens…"

Lincoln looked next to Lynn Sr's bed to spy a small copy of _Blarney's Magical Adventure with Timmy the Tank Engine and the Lardass Controller._ A smirk emerged on his face, but he didn't want to hammer it in. "Have fun, Dad."

"Will do," he said as Lincoln closed the door behind him.

The teen did a stretch outside, letting out a groan as he did, before walking out of the house and onto the sidewalk. "Well, time to get going… Sure wish Lori was still here to drive me…"

* * *

Luna and Lynn were applying the final touches outside the haunted house, per Lucy's instructions, when they heard the sound of heaving footsteps and panting. They both turned to look at the sidewalk, to see Lincoln sprinting towards them, his clothes so drenched in sweat it was as if he had dunked them into the Great Lakes.

"Wow, you look like you're about to die, bro," Luna said, "Which I guess is a good idea for tonight…"

"Seriously. Does all that exercise I make you do not help out?" Lynn asked.

"I… don't know. I… can barely… focus on what… you're saying," Lincoln forced out in gasps. His cheeks were flushed red, and in the torchlight Luna and Lynn had set up, his skin practically glistened, "Good thing I'm getting new clothes. Where's my costume?"

"I don't know. Might want to check with Mom or Lucy. Assuming her head isn't in the sky with diamonds…" Luna referenced.

"I still think your costume should've been the squirrel suit," Lynn lightly quipped, and Lincoln shot her a glare. She shrugged. "I said I was sorry. And it was a long time ago. Just get over it."

"Whatever. And seriously, good job with these torches, you two. They look exactly like how we designed them."

His two older sisters beamed with pride and Lincoln went inside. "I set mine up better," Lynn immediately said.

Inside, Lincoln saw his mother, stumbling around slightly in her mummy suit. Her arms were stretched and she dragged one foot behind and she strode forward. "Bleh, bleh," she growled before breaking down and laughing, "No, no, that won't do..."

"Hey Mom."

"Hey sweetie," Rita greeted, extending her arms to let Lincoln hug her. She took a hefty sniff, and her face convulsed in disgust. "What smells like rotten onions dipped in rotten cheese with rotten sweet sauce?"

"Uh, that's me, Mom."

"Oh. Sorry sweetie," she smiled in embarrassment, "Guess it's a good thing you're changing into a costume. Make sure to put on a lot of perfume. I don't think this place has a shower..."

"Yeah, speaking of that, do you know where it is?"

Rita put a finger to her chin and hummed, but shaking her head. "I don't recall exactly. You should ask Lucy. She knows where everything is around here."

"Alright, will do. Do you know where she is?"

Rita pointed upwards and Lincoln rushed towards the stairwell, hopping from step to step. He opened a few doors randomly in the hallway, shouting "LUCY!" into each one, before he heard a soft "Over here!" a few doors down to the left.

The door was open, and Lucy was standing in front of a window. Lincoln walked in and immediately gulped painfully. Her body was bathing in the whitish glow of the full moon, and the beauty of the moon was only contrasted with the beauty of her silky dark hair. For a moment, he could believe Lucy was the witch she often claimed she was, because he was spellbound for a moment, completely frozen in light of her charm.

Then she glanced over.

"Hey Lincoln," she said, snapping Lincoln out of his pause, "I heard you calling for me."

"Oh, ummm... yeah, I..." Lincoln stammered like a Neanderthal while trying to remember what it was he needed. _What did I come here for exactly?_

 _Oh yeah, my costume._

"Mom said you had my costume," Lincoln said, and Lucy nodded. She extended her hand beyond her dark reaper garb, and pointed in the corner to a small yet incredibly fancy chair. Lincoln grabbed his outfit; a darkish red-black suit and cape. Lincoln smirked; of course Lucy would put him in a vampire outfit...

"I have your fangs right here," she said, reaching back into her droopy sleeve and showing it to him. Lincoln graciously took them from her hand, and said "Thanks Luce. Time for me to change."

The goth stood still, and Lincoln had to fake cough. " _Time for me to change._ "

"Oh. R-Right," the young girl made her way outside, though she did linger at the door longer than she should've.

She waited outside for a couple of minutes, mentally going over the tour of the house, when Lincoln finally came outside. "How do I look?" he asked, baring his well-made fangs for her to see. Lucy assumed his large chipped front teeth would be a problem, but they seemed to fit in perfectly, thanks to her sister's design.

But aside from that, Lincoln looked downright amazing in his vampire suit. He extended his arms outward, spreading the cape and allowing her to observe the velvet of the cape. The dark colors suited him well, and with his snowy white hair... he looked like the perfect vampire...

"Uh, Luce. Thoughts?"

"Youlookgood" Lucy squeaked, in a quick and fast tone. Her face was warmer than it had even been in her life, and she honestly didn't know whether she wanted to jump into his arms or out the window.

"What?" he asked, "I didn't get that."

"Uh... you pull it off well," Lucy said, returning to her usual gravely tone, "I'm glad I thought to pick you for the role this year."

Lincoln smiled. "Thanks. Good to hear from the vampire fan."

"Should we go downstairs? We can pass the time with Mom and our sisters while we wait for everyone else to show up."

"Yeah. Let's go," Lincoln said. He took all but one step forward before Lucy said "Wait!"

He paused, and Lucy approached him. She looked into his eyes, transfixed for a second, and Lincoln stared down at her, at the dark bangs that barely obscured her grey-blue irises anymore. She reached forward, grabbing his collar and fidgeting with it for a few seconds, before letting go. "Sigh. There you go. Now you'r... it's perfect."

He gave her a soft, brotherly smirk, before pointing towards the stairs. "Shall we go?"

"We shall," she grinned back, before taking a whiff of the air and scowling, "Why do you smell like garlic?"

"It was, uh, the only perfume at hand," Lincoln admitted, fully aware of the irony. Thankfully, Lucy didn't feel like pressing the issue, and the two of them heading towards the stairs...

* * *

Somewhere else in Royal Woods, the goofy and hulkish laughs of two delinquents could be heard, alongside a pair of screams. Two young girls, one dressed as an angel and one as a devil, threw their candy supplies on the street before running off, and who else but Hank and Hawk to scoop up what they left behind.

"This is a good stash, bro," Hawk said, his stomach growling. He grabbed a fistful of chocolate and stuffed it in his mouth, chewing loudly and rudely like all bad guys do.

"Yeah, it is, but... I'm kinda bored right now," Hank muttered, "Wish we had something better to do than mess with a bunch of stupid, random kids."

"Well... what if we could mess with some kids... but what if they ain't random?" Hawk suggested. His thug comrade raised a bushy eyebrow, before Hawk raised a chubby finger at some kids across the street... two blonde girls that looked both identical and different, a sewn up teddy, a young girl in a lab coat, and two teens with them.

"Hey... aren't those the little shits that messed with us before? Couple years ago?"

"Yeah. Gave me the scare of my life," Hawk angrily spat, before an evil grin grew on his face, "Say... you wanna... get a little payback?"

"You sure? It was so long ago..."

The two bullies stood for a moment, before bursting out in laughter. "Like that's gonna stop us," Hank laughed as he slapped a meat palm to his sweaty face, "Time to do what we do best... show everyone who's top dog."

Hank and Hawk let out two loud howls in a mocking display, before finally starting to sneak after the Louds...

* * *

 **Next chapter's gonna be a bit tricky. I'm gonna have to decide between two smaller sized chapters, one large combination of the two, or a cutting down of the combination. And people told me it was just about getting words on a page lol**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hope you all had a great and spooky Halloween.**

 **MrNonsense: Yeah, decided to wrap it all up here. I cut out as many unnecessary parts as I could, though. Don't hate me too much :P**

 **Jeff: Well, you leave some pretty insightful reviews and good advice. I appreciate that (and I _do_ want it~)**

 **Renteka-bond: I jab at Maggie now, but my next story is actually Luaggie lol. Had to get my snide comments out of my system. And I'm glad you find the pacing well. I had to hold myself back** _ **a lot**_ **when writing this, but I hope it's worth it.**

* * *

Lucy dusted herself off a little before greeting the next guests. They were a young couple, both with dark inky hair, though the boy's seemed a bit messier than the girl's. The both seemed her age as well, but that didn't stop the two of them from approaching Lucy nervously, as if she were the most terrifying thing in the world. Actually, the reason the two were jittering slightly and had their eyes wide open was the sheer spectacle of the house itself. Lucy grinned to herself.

 _Wait until they get inside…_

"Tickets, please," Lucy asked, extended her cold palm to take their tickets. The young man handed her the orange tickets, and the goth gave them both a ghastly glower. "Have fun," she muttered, fully aware of the unnerving irony.

"Th-thanks," he said, before flicked his head in the direction of the door, "Well… let's go Ottoline."

"R-Right behind you, Otto," she whimpered as the two of them disappeared through the door.

"Otto and Ottoline?" Lucy muttered, before making a face of pure disgust, "They must be some twisted narcissists to date people with the same name…" she paused though, taking a moment to glance down at the ground, where a little puddle of water had been spilled earlier by a fleeing patron. There she saw herself, standing forlornly without company.

"Sigh… at least they have someone with them," she said, her eyes not rising from the seeing pond. She glared at it for a few more moments, before suddenly a flash of white sparked next to her head.

She quickly shot her head up in that direction, and Lincoln jumped back nervously. "GAAH! Dang it, Lucy… even when you're right there, you still make me jump…"

"It's an art," she simply said, her brief twinkle of emotion put aside in favor of deadpan, "What are you doing out here, Lincoln?"

"Just wanted to check in and make sure you were handling things," he shrugged, "I know how aggressive some of these lines could be. Also… remember that fork in the hallway, where people could either walk down my path or Lynn's path?"

Lucy nodded, and Lincoln sighed, "The wood was a bit… rotted. Some kid I scared ran off so quickly he broke a hole in the floor. So no one comes the path to see _the Dhambire Khing,_ " Lincoln said, spreading his Dracula-like cape in the breeze.

Lucy snickered. "That was the worst Romanian accent I've ever heard in my life."

"Have you heard Dad do his British voice? Bad accents run in our blood," Lincoln said with an amused smirk and a shrug of draped shoulders.

The ravenette glanced back at the entrance to the property. It seemed everyone who wanted to go inside had gone inside, and judging from the loud screams of terror intermingled with the recognizable frightening cries of her sisters, everyone seemed to be having a good time. Lucy exhaled loudly, not realizing how constricted her breast had been. She could take a little break.

"Sigh. Everything seems to be going well in there," Lucy said, checking back at the door.

"Oh yeah. Lola and Lana work really well as creepy twins. Gave me goose bumps," Lincoln lightly laughed.

"What about the screams on the speakers?"

"The ones you had Leni do over the phone?" Lincoln asked, and when Lucy nodded, he answered, "They were a bit crackly at first, but Luna and Chunk were able to fix it up to sound more clear. I think they even made them louder."

"That's impressive. How'd they do it?"

Lincoln shrugged again. "You'd have to ask them. I don't really know much about speakers and amps besides carrying them."

Lucy didn't respond. At first, he just assumed she wouldn't laugh at his little bit of humor, but he seemed to note a general air of unease surrounding the girl. "Hey," he whispered softly, as comfortingly as he could, "Is everything alright?"

"Sigh. It's fine."

"You know you can talk to me about anything, right? I'm your older brother, I'm here for you," he said in a kind and brotherly tone.

 _That's part of the problem!_ her mind screamed.

"It's not about the haunted house. I'm more than thrilled about it. See?" she said as she pointed at her neutral face.

"Oh yeah, you're thrilled," Lincoln said, having trained for years to read Lucy's facial cues, "But if it's not this, then what…"

"Lincoln I've been thinking a lot about Christmas."

A slow crawling pause passed over them, and Lincoln coughed nervously and yanked his collar, feeling as though it were choking him. "Well, uh, of course… Christmas is a great time of year. Yup, all the, uh, presents and cookies. You girls like chocolate cookies, so…"

"You know what I mean, Lincoln…"

Now the boy's face darkened. "Lucy… we don't have to… no, we shouldn't take about that. It was just something weird that happened. Push it out of your head, I don't know."

"But Lincoln, I…"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Lincoln and Lucy's heads turned towards the entrance, looking at the source of the heavy voice, "I hope me and my bro aren't interrupting nothing."

 _Oh no…_ Lincoln and Lucy both thought.

It was Hank and Hawk. The two meaty thugs with an angry glare in their eye. The two bared their yellow teeth as they got closer and closer, and Lincoln unconsciously put his arm in front of Lucy, in a defensive stance. "What do you two want?" he demanded in the bravest voice he could muster (which, unfortunately, yielded mixed results) "If you want our sisters' candy, then…"

"Oh, the candy will just be a _side-treat_ ," Hawk said, causing Hank to burst out in stupid hyena laughter.

"Good one, bro."

"Thanks, bro," Hawk flashed his cohort a thumbs-up, before turning back to the Loud siblings at the entrance, "This is about more than candy. We want payback for what you little fucks did to us back then."

"Seriously?" Lincoln growled, beginning to get annoyed, "That was three years ago. Why the hell do you still care?"

"Because," Hank snarled, now standing close enough to Lincoln for the white haired youth to smell his metallic and smoky breath, "I just hate seeing people like you pull stuff like that and get away with it. We're not punks who'd let that slide."

While Lincoln and Hank stared each other dead in the eyes, neither attempting to make a move, they didn't notice Lucy fidgeting with her supplies, desperately clawing through her bag for God-knows-what. And unfortunately, just as the two adversaries didn't notice her, she didn't Hawk until he snatched away her bag. "I got the jackpot, bro!" he yelled as he held it out of her reach.

"Give it back," she ordered, her tone more on edge now. As she struggled to reach for it, the bully placed a sweaty and hefty hand on her head, pushing her down. As the twelve year old fell to the ground, Lincoln finally broke contact with Hawk's friend and gave him a death glare.

"What are you looking at, string bean?" Hawk demanded.

What happened next was something Lincoln would take pride in for as long as he could remember it. A ringing began in his ears, his pupils widened with rage and hate, and every inch of his body was graced with a powerful rush of adrenaline. And with a speed that Lynn would applaud, he swiftly rushed towards Hawk and…

 _BOOM!_

Time seemed to slow as Lincoln watched the giant drop Lucy's belongings and step back rapidly, covering his bleeding nose. He paused for a moment, before looking down at his own tightly clenched fist. A dark crimson red painted his knuckles, and even though his ears were still tingling, he could've been sure of a nasty crunch the moment his punch connected with the thug's face.

For a brief, shining moment, he was proud of himself, standing over his adversary like David over Goliath.

 _I'd like to see Lola call me a pushover now._

Then Lincoln looked back to Hawk, pure red lava flowing in his eyes.

"YOU'RE DEAD!" he roared, roughly grabbing Lincoln by his collar and shoving his frame against the house. He reciprocated Lincoln's punch with a hefty blow of his own, and Lincoln cried out in anguish as the side of his head hit the window frame. He must've hit it pretty hard, cause he could feel a warm flow of blood trickling down the side of his face.

With blurred vision, he could see the vague outline of his tormentor drawing his arm back, ready to deliver another attack, when…

"Found it," Lucy declared, pulling a sleek remote-like device out of her fallen pack, and swiftly hit the button in the top right corner.

For a moment, there was silence as the four of them waited to see what would happen.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIGH!"

Lincoln and the two bullies jumped in panic and shock as the silence was ripped by a deafening scream of pure terror echoed throughout the neighborhood. Inside the house, a thunderous stampede of footsteps approached the door, until nearly every patron of the haunted house rushed out as fast as they could, screaming and yelling as they fled. Lincoln looked over to Lucy, his eyes wide with confusion, and the young goth gave a coy little grin.

"That scream I had Leni practice… I gave it over to Lisa… she found a good way to make it terrifying…"

Lincoln could've laughed at that moment, were it not for Hank grabbed him again, and holding him up to his face. "Now you're really going to…"

"Hey! Leave my brother alone!"

Lincoln breathed a loud sigh of relief at the familiar sound of Lola's high-pitched orders. Hank and Hawk glanced over to the doorway to see all the other Loud sisters pour out of the property. At first, they seemed shocked at what was going on, but a general defensive impulse overtook them in a matter of seconds.

Lucy scared + Lincoln bleeding + Two guys they didn't like = Showtime.

Luna and Luan were the first to step closer, a powerful anger sparked in their eyes, and behind them Lynn and the twins were cracking their knuckles. "Leave our brother alone, _dudes,_ " Luna practically spat at them.

"Or what? You gonna scare us again with spooky songs again?" Hawk mocked, causing Hank to flash him a crude yet approving shocker.

"Oh, that's cute," Lynn growled as she slammed her fist into her open palm, "You think this is still 2017…"

It was at this point Hank and Hawk began to realize that they might have made a mistake following the kids back here. They might've even ran away, had Lana not jumped at them and delivered a kick to Hank's shins.

And had a beating from each member of the Loud family present not followed soon after…

* * *

" _Lincoln… Lincoln…_ Lincoln, wake up…"

The soft voice calling his name awake the fifteen year old, and he painfully struggling to open his eyes. He reached up to wipe the crust out of his lids, and gazed to see who was trying to awaken him.

It was Lucy.

Sitting with legs crossed on his bed.

Her, uh, womanhood a little revealed by her tight pajama pants.

"GAAH!" he instinctively shot back, throwing himself against his bed post so hard the back of his head slammed painfully into the wall. He growled as he reached back to touch it, noting that his entire head seemed to be in pain.

Oh yeah; he had been brutalized pretty bad last night.

"Good morning to you too," Lucy said dimly, knocking Lincoln out of re-living those memories.

"Luce… what time is it?" Lincoln asked, rising from his bed slightly to check outside. Of course, the sun was barely up, its bright beams barely peaking over the horizon while it pained the sky with gold and red and pink. It was a pretty beautiful sight, really, and warm glow on Lincoln's face made him a little more forgiving to his younger sister for waking him up.

Only a little more, though.

"I barely got any sleep. Why are you waking me up?" he grumbled to her.

Lucy shied away from his vision, her mouth twisting with guilt, before she seemingly gained a bit of confidence in what she was doing. "I, um… wanted to say sorry…"

Lincoln blinked. "Sorry for what?"

"Sorry for getting you hurt yesterday."

 _I bet Hawk's nose is sorry. Or was it Hank I punched? Oh, who gives a f-_ "It's fine, Lucy. You shouldn't blame yourself. They were going to punch me out anyways."

"But… because I let them grab my bag…"

Lucy gasped (like, an actual gasp) as Lincoln grabbed her shoulders. He stared deeply into her eyes, his clear blue clashing with her obscured grayish eyes. He swallowed, before pulling her body into his own, squeezing her tightly in a hug they both so desperately craved.

"Lucy…" he started, his voice ragged and almost frightened, "I stood up for you, our sisters stood up for me, we all stand up for each other when the time comes. It's something I had to do. I just… what's worse than me getting hurt is… just me imaging those assholes hurting you."

Lucy drew a shivery breath. "Do you mean that?"

"It scares me. To no end."

The ravenette gave him a kind and feminine smile, staring back into his eyes with a rare display of warm affection that she usually kept present, but buried down. She preened an extra long strand of his ashen hair from his face, before gently clutching her brother as well, sinking herself deeper into his arms.

"Don't worry about me, Lincoln. Truthfully, I… I worry about you more."

The two broke the hug, as Lincoln leaned back. He was sitting on his knees now, before his sister. He gave her a baffled look. "Why?"

"Because…" Lucy started, before pausing and closing her mouth. Lincoln knew she had a tendency to spare people's feelings, so he rolled his eyes and said "Lucy, just tell it to me straight."

"Sigh. Because you seemed like a mess. After what happened to you," Lucy said, "Every time you have a breakup… I feel like I have to look after you."

Lincoln smiled, and drew a little closer to her. "You see, Lucy. We all look out for one another. And yeah… I was a bit of a mess earlier this month, huh?" he lightly jabbed himself.

"It reminds me a bit about last time you were like this. The last time you had a bad breakup with a girl you loved as deeply as Edwin loves Griselda."

Lincoln sighed. "You know… you've been bringing that up for a while now. Seriously, Lucy, it…"

"IT'S HOW I FEEL, LINCOLN!" the quiet girl suddenly screamed, for the first time with that level of intensity and volume. The girl clutched her chest and hung her head, slightly shamed of her outburst, but she grit her teeth and whispered "It's how I feel…"

* * *

 _It started in December, a year ago…_

A disheveled Lincoln hears a soft knocking at his door, and flips over in his bed to look at it. He opens his mouth to say 'Come in' but the lack of usage his vocal chords have gotten forces him to cough loudly, before trying again.

"Come in," he all but wheezes.

The door opens, and the light of the hallway floods both Lincoln's room and his eyes, and he hisses. "You sound just like one of the twisted gorgons on my show," Lucy says with a hint of amusement as she walks into the room.

"Lucy, if you're just hear to repeat what Leni already told me…"

The goth shakes her head. "I just want a rhyme for 'macabre.'"

"Oh," Lincoln said. He was simultaneously relieved she wouldn't be giving him a talk that he didn't want to hear or babying him, and yet paradoxically he was annoyed and disappointed that that wasn't the case. Still, he obliged her for at least speaking to him. "Candelabra."

Lucy hummed to herself, and repeated "Candelabra," rolling it on her tongue. Finally, she said "Thanks, Lincoln."

"Any… any time, Luce," he said dejectedly as she closed the door on him.

The young poet seemed to take him up on his offer, for she returned later that hour asking for a rhyme for 'tonic.' Lincoln gave her 'chronic' and she left again, her inky black feather pen dancing on the pages of her notebook.

And that's how it was for a while. Lincoln would lay in bed, miserable and heartbroken, until Lucy would show up and ask for help. Usually it was for a rhyme for one of her poems, but once or twice she did ask for help with her math homework. Eventually, Lincoln even began to look forward to visits from his spooky little sister. But still, something lingered in the back of his head;

 _Why does she keep coming to me? Luna could probably give her better rhymes. If it's her homework, Lisa and Lori are way more helpful than I could ever be. Why?_

He punched himself on the head, unable to come up with an answer. He liked spending time with her, of course. He loved spending time with her, she was one of his closest sisters. But why did _she_ come to _him?_

The next time Lucy came around, Lincoln had these thoughts in his mind. "Hey Lincoln. What's a good rhyme for 'opaque?'"

"How about 'wake?'"

Lucy scratched her head with her feathery pen, before saying "I'd prefer a word with two syllables instead of one."

"Will 'awake' work then?" Lincoln responded with a faintly humored smile.

She responded with a similar smirk. "Yes, it would. Thank you, Lincoln," the girl turned away to head out the door, when Lincoln suddenly said "Hey Lucy…"

The shadowy girl turned back to him, and he let out a huge sigh. "Um… what else have you been doing? Besides poetry?"

Though Lincoln couldn't see it, Lucy's lips flickered, for just a moment, to a genuine smile.

Slowly but surely, Lucy and Lincoln found themselves talking more and more. And the more they spoke over the days, the more confident and emboldened he began to feel. He spoke to Leni again, the first time he had talked to someone else in a language beyond grunts and "I'm hungry"s. He began to fall back into his old routine; drawing comics in the spare time he had when he wasn't coaching Lola, playing with Lana, listening to Luna rock out in the garage or tossing a football back and forth with Lynn.

"Man, it's nice to have the old Stinkoln back," Lynn said as she fell back onto her bed, sweating and panting. She looked over to her dark haired roommate, and said "Glad you got him out of his nerd bunker."

The younger girl looked to her sporty roommate, and gave her a look of knowing. "Of course I did, Lynn. I love him, after all."

Lucy got up to use the bathroom after saying that, but something about what she said made Lynn give her a questioning look. It was that she said 'I love him.' It was more… how she said it…

 _Whatever,_ Lynn thought as she rolled the ball in her hands, _At least he isn't moping around like he was before…_

Life returned to normal in the Loud House, and just in time. Christmas was knocking on Royal Woods' door, and with it came the typical Christmas traditions. The Louds awoke to presents (several disappointed groans went into the air as the younger siblings discovered their hand-me-downs), ate their fair share of chocolate (Lincoln was almost mauled by his sisters when he suggested the more traditional candy canes instead of their beloved cocoa), and spent the latter half of the day with various friends and family coming over to visit. Clyde and his dads, Pop Pop, and of course...

"Hey guys," Lori said as she stepped through the door, accompanied by her precious Boo Boo Bear. The moment the eldest sister arrived, everyone made a mad rush to the door to tackle her to the ground in a big group hug.

"G-GUYS! Get off of me! I literally can't breathe! Literally literally this time!"

"Hey Bobby," Lincoln, the more calm of the group, greeted the Hispanic man, with the small ritualistic fist-bumping they had practiced together.

"Hey, glad to see you still remember our thing," Bobby said, impressed, and not taking note of the fact that Lori was suffocating under the weight of nine younger sisters, or that she was clawing at his brown slacks to get his attention.

"Sure do. Hey, uh, is Ronnie Anne... ?"

A look of sympathy flashed through Bobby's eyes. "No, sorry, bro. She had to stay behind in the city..."

"Oh... I understand," Lincoln said despondently. He slumped a little at the news; however confusing their relationship generally was, as to whether it was romantic or platonic or something else, the two had a healthy relationship, and they loved spending time together. He was honestly hoping that she would jump out from behind Bobby and punch him on the arm, and laugh about she tricked him. But no, that wouldn't be the case.

"I'm sure she'll call you. This is Christmas. She's definitely thinking of you," Lori said as she brushed all her siblings off, giving her a brother and kind, sympathetic smile.

"Yeah... Yeah! Uh... let's just go have some fun, everyone," Lincoln said with a grin.

And so they did. Dinner, games, talking, cleaning up Clyde's blood spurts whenever he saw Lori ("It's good to be home," she muttered as it splattered her left shoe)... and of course, the inevitable mocking of Lori and Bobby as they kissed under the mistletoe. "Do you take Lori Loud as your wife, in sickness and health? Cause when she's sick, her 'shoes squeak louder,'" Luan mocked. Many siblings bit down on their lips to keep from laughing, but ultimately burst into giggles, Lincoln included.

Ultimately, the night unwinded, and Lincoln crash back onto a couch, tired from everything, and yet still oddly satisfied, with what could only be described as a goofy grin on his face. His expression must've been extra ridiculous, because he heard a rather cute giggle coming from next to him. He titled his head to the side with the velocity of a sloth, and saw Lucy covering her mouth, barely hiding her amusement. He didn't even care that she was laughing at him; he was in a pretty pleasant haze, the first one in a while.

"I hope you had fun tonight," Lincoln said, to which Lucy quickly readjusted her facial expression to her usual dour look.

"Halloween is better," she insisted, "I prefer the company of ghosts and fellow witches to reindeer and gingerbread men."

Lincoln raised a knowing eyebrow, and his sister caved. "Sigh. But yes; Christmas was great this year. As always..."

"That's all I wanted to hear," Lincoln teased. He gazed around the living room, and realized that the two of them were alone. All their guests had left (with the exception of Lori and Bobby, who opted to spend one extra night) and the residents of the home were all either dormant in their beds or, in the case of Lisa and the twins, continuing their sugar crazed rave upstairs. "You know, Luce, I really have to thank you. I, uh, probably would've have gotten out of my slump without your help."

"You would've done it without me," Lucy said, a hint of admiration in her tone, "You're strong enough. I just wanted to help you realize that."

Lincoln found himself blushing. "You really think so?"

Lucy nodded. "I do."

Lincoln smiled. He could feel a warm glow in his chest at the moment. Perhaps it was the blessing of the holiday, but at that moment he felt a great and surging appreciation for everything and everyone in his life. His friends, his family, even his past love interests...

And most of all; his creepy yet wonderful little sister Lucy.

"It's a new year coming," Lincoln said absentmindedly, "Something new's coming for us. Hopefully... hopefully I'll find that special girl."

Lucy seemed to tense when he said that, and turned to the side to give a look of lamenting. _Lincoln, please... I know it's wrong, I know it's weird, but... I'm right here..._

And then... something happened in Lucy's mind. A little click that told her _Take action._

"Hey, Lincoln... can you come with me for a second?"

Lincoln groaned, not wanting to leave the comfort of his couch seat, but he obliged her anyways. He followed her as she stood underneath a door frame leading out of the living room, and he joined her underneath it, standing diametrically opposed to her. She gave him a shy little smile, her porcelain cheeks suddenly blushing a soft red before she leaned into his face and...

She kissed him.

Lucy held her lips to the shocked Lincoln's for just a moment before breaking their kiss. She stepped back slightly, before pointing a solitary finger upwards. "We're under the mistletoe," she whispered.

"Lucy... I..." Lincoln said, blinking with uncertainty, and Lucy's own eyes began to widen behind her dark bangs. Oh no... did she make a mistake?

"Lincoln, I'm sor-" she was cut off as Lincoln grabbed her cheeks swiftly and pulled her in for another kiss, this time lasting longer than her quick peck. He closed his eyes as his sense were overflowing with Lucy. The touch of soft skin, the smell of her sweet fragrance, the taste of her on his tongue... he felt his face glowing alongside her's, but he didn't care. All that mattered in that moment was her...

The kiss broke again, and the two siblings stared at each other, so close to each other he could feel her cool breaths on his heated face. They both struggled for something to say; that it was a platonic kiss, that it was a joke, that it was just mistletoe tradition, but... her eyes didn't lie to him. And his eyes didn't lie to her...

* * *

"Christ, Lucy," Lincoln concluded, "I can't be with you. You know that. It's wrong for a sister to feel that way about her brother. It's sick, it's..."

"Oh, spare me," Lucy suddenly snapped, catching Lincoln off-guard, "I know you want it just as much as me. What's wrong with a brother and sister loving each other?"

"Because it's not the right way," Lincoln spat in turn.

"All you wanted was a girlfriend. All you ever wanted was to be with someone. And here I was... just waiting for you," Lucy's voice began to crack, and sharp stinging in her eyes indicated tears. Her tempered voice had almost dissipated when she said, "Just... just waiting for you to realize that I'm the right girl for you. Not Mollie, not Stella, not whoever else you fell for... me. I- I've always been here for you..."

Ironically, words failed the poetic Loud sister as she began sniffling and tearing up. "I thought that... by now, you would've felt the same."

Unbeknownst to her, and perhaps even to the snow haired young man himself, he did feel the same. He wasn't stupid; he had been gazing at her, admiring her, worshiping her with his eyes and service for the past few weeks. Every time he saw her smile, every time he caught a glimpse of mirror-like eyes, every time he heard one of her rare laughs that went beyond saying the words 'ha ha'... he felt a distinct flutter in his chest, as his heart skipped a beat and cheeks brightened and burned with doting affection for his younger sister.

Lincoln sighed. _Why did she have to be my younger sister?_

"Lucy, I... I wouldn't have kissed you like that if I didn't..." he admitted shamefully.

Her inquisitive gaze made her sigh, and he spilled. "I won't lie to you. I have... loved you like that for the longest time. It just... you know... doesn't feel right..."

"Does it feel right to you?"

"Yes," he answered instantly, "Yes, it does. But everyone else... the laws, our family, society..."

"Are you asking the goth to care about society's rules? Lincoln, look at me," she said, pointing at herself, "I've been coating my nails in black polish since I was eight. I don't care _they_ think. I care about what I... what you and I think..." she trailed off, before glancing back at brother again. He really had gotten better over time; his build was more lean and muscular, and his hairstyle drove her as wild as it always did. "So I'll ask you, Lincoln of the House of Loud; do you feel as deeply for me as I feel for you? Would you bind your soul and love to me, as I would for you?"

The boy gulped, currently in both fear and awe at the power his sister was having over him at the moment. Such a strong pull, that he couldn't even feel himself fighting it anymore. And, at that point, he didn't even want to...

 _Maybe this is why it never worked with anyone else,_ he thought, _Because they weren't the right one. But Lucy is. She loves me and... and I love her more than anything in the world._

"Yes," he said, flashing her the warmest smile he could, "Yes, I would. I love you, Lucy. And even when I tried to hide it from you and from myself... I always knew how much I loved you."

She crawled over to him, approaching him with a mix of shyness and fervent desire. "I've lied to myself as well," she said calmly, "Sometimes I would try to force you out of my third eye. But your graceful smile sticks with me. A bright shiny beam of hope... like a warm summer's day..."

"And you're a calm, gentle spot of welcome darkness," Lincoln responded, trying to describe her with her poetic tone, "Like... like a cool winter's night..."

"Night and day... summer and winter," she smirked, "And do you know when those two meet?"

Lincoln shook his head. "During an autumn sunrise," she concluded, before pointing towards the window, curling her finger at the far glow of the horizon, "Do you see it?"

The sun was rising now, and the clear and soft rays of the glowing morning star splashed onto Lucy's pure flesh. She seemed to radiate with beauty, as she sat there with a loving grin. Lincoln knew what he needed to do. He straddled her leg, leaned in to her face and, just as he did almost a year ago, he gently caressed her inflamed cheeks. She took a sharp intake of air, before finally whimpering a quiet "Kiss me."

And Lincoln obliged. Their lips met, and in their mouth's embrace, Lincoln murmured one last "I love you, Lucy..." before the two of them separated, threw off their clothes and began to prove how much they truly loved each other...

* * *

Lincoln awoke again about two or three hours later, his arm draped around a naked Lucy, as she clutched his body gently while she slept. He smirked gently as he brushed some of her hair to the side. He closed his eyes, and drew up a familiar image. All of his past loves, swirled together into one giant whirlwind of faces. He grinned, because for the time in forever, he could replace that mental image with a softer one... a warmer one...

At that moment, all he could see was Lucy's kind and tender smile.

* * *

 **Thank you all so much for reading. This was a bit of a side project, and it was enjoyable to write. The question of a sequel has been brought up by someone, and my answer is a hard ' _shrug_.'**

 **Regardless, as was said above, my next story should be a Luaggie, and I plan to go back to some older projects I've been neglecting as well. I hope you all enjoyed, and for now, I say 'until next time and have a good day.'**


End file.
